April 7, 2006
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417

AMHERST, Mass.—Jamila Trindle of Wilmington, Del., a 2002 graduate of Amherst College, has been awarded a Luce Fellowship and will travel next year to China to report on the changes in family structure brought about by the industrialization and urbanization of the world’s most populous nation. Trindle wrote in her personal statement to the Luce Scholars program, “An understanding of Asian countries and cultures is becoming increasingly important to the American editorial table.”

An English major at Amherst, Trindle also studied in New Zealand her junior year. After graduation, she spent a year teaching and traveling in Europe and northern Africa, and has been working as reporter at WHYY-TV and WILM radio in Wilmington since 2004.

Each year since 1974, the Luce Scholars Program has provided opportunities for 18 young Americans, chosen from 67 leading colleges and universities, to live and work in Asia. The Luce Scholars, who can come from any field of study other than Asian studies, are supported by the Asia Foundation, an organization with offices throughout Asia. Placements can be made in Brunei, China and Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Founded in 1821 for “the education of indigent young men of piety and talents,” Amherst College is now widely regarded as the premier liberal arts college in the nation, enrolling a diverse group of approximately 1,600 young men and women. Well known for its academic excellence, Amherst is also consistently ranked among the very best schools in the country in terms of accessibility: The college’s financial aid packages are consistently the most generous in the U.S., and among its peer universities and colleges Amherst has the greatest economic diversity. Diversity, in its broadest sense, is fundamental to Amherst’s mission. The college enrolls students from every state and more than 40 countries, and for the past several years more than 35 percent of Amherst’s students have been students of color. Amherst offers the B.A. degree in 33 fields of study.

###